New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, The: A History of Old Main

Old Main, the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, opened in 1843. It was the first asylum in NYS and the second in the United States. Dr. Amariah Brigham was the first superintendent and brought his moral treatment to the asylum. People with mental illness would be rescued from a life of chains, confinement, and isolation to come to Utica. They would work on the asylum farm, print shop, garden, among other occupations. The patients would have their own Asylum Band, perform stage shows, and write, edit and sell the most popular asylum publication ever conceived: The Opal. The infamous Utica Crib would hold severe patients in its caged confinement. The asylum would average 2700 visitors a year in the 1850's making it among the most visited locations in the United States. Old Main closed on September 28, 1978. The building, with its iconic Greek Doric columns, was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Old Main still attracts large crowds and is considered one of the most haunted buildings in the United States. Known as "Old Main," the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica opened in 1843 as the first institution of its kind to treat madness as a medical illness, not a curse. A series of groundbreaking administrators sought to save mentally ill New Yorkers from lives of confinement in sordid conditions and create a safe haven. A sense of normalcy was established for patients through Old Main's Asylum Band, the Opal monthly publication and other arts programs. The infamous Utica Crib was invented at the asylum, and visitors from around the world sought to tour the facility and its utopian structure. Though closed in 1978, Old Main was placed in the National Register of Historic Places, and its iconic columns still mesmerize the public today. Author Dennis Webster charts the history of the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica. The infamous Utica Crib was invented at the New York State Lunatic Asylum as a humane restraint device for extreme cases of mania. Both, The Opal (a monthly periodical written by patients) and the American Journal of Insanity (started in 1844 by Dr. Brigham) were written, edited and published on site at the Old Main building.-- Source other than the Library of Congress